A co-payment is the fixed amount insured persons pay for covered medical services
Copays tend to differ depending on the service or treatment involved, particularly based on whether or not the treatment is considered to be essential, or whether a visit to a specialist is or is not required. The level of co-payment is set down in individual health insurance policies.
In Germany, people with public health insurance can expect to make a co-payment of around €10 per quarter for visits to their doctor as well as co-payments of €5–10 for prescription medicines (or 10% of the total cost).
Private health insurance providers in Germany do not tend to require co-payments but instead use deductibles as a means of having policyholders contribute a small percentage of their healthcare costs.